A daily rundown of live entertainment in and around San Marcos tonight, compiled by Mercury Scene Editor Hap Mansfield and our content partners at San Marcos Tonight.

Tonight’s Best Bet

Tonight Maestro Troy Peters (pictured) will conduct the Texas Symphony orchestra in Leonard Bernstein’s “Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra”. Originally composed for the Bicentennial (although it wasn’t quite ready until the following year, 1977) the rarely performed piece is an impressive testament to American music and poetry. Pieces put to music include classic poems by Corso, Ferlinghetti, Frank O’Hara, Langston Hughes, Poe and more. The Bernstein will be a revelation, Peters is highly lauded and Texas State is full of great musicians so it will be a sterling evening. If you want a rougher cut to the evening, check out The Damn Quails at Cheatham Street Warehouse. Or, do both, and experience a delicious and eclectic musical evening.

JENNIFER EGAN Fiction Reading, Book Signing, Q&A @ 3:30 p.m, – 6:00 p.m. @The Wittliff Collections / Alkek Library Jennifer Egan was born in Chicago and raised in San Francisco. She is the author of The Invisible Circus, a novel that became a feature film starring Cameron Diaz in 2001, Look at Me, a finalist for the National Book Award in fiction in 2001, Emerald City and Other Stories, and the bestselling The Keep. Her most recent novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad, won the…

Susan Stone Panel on Mental Illness and the Law @ 6:30 p.m. @ Alkek Library Teaching Theatre Susan Stone (1959-2013) was a licensed attorney, licensed psychiatrist, and a member of this panel until her unexpected passing in September. Applying her extensive knowledge of law and psychiatry, Dr. Stone was a strong advocate for people with mental illness in the Texas criminal justice system. This discussion of Texas Mental Health Code and its recent changes, as a result of Stone’s efforts…

The Central Texas Medical Center (CTMC) Institute for Healthy Living is educating the community about the 8 wellness principles that have been proven to increase longevity and quality of life. A free, 9-week-long CREATION Health series kicked off on Thursday, Aug. 29 and takes place every consecutive Thursday, concluding on Oct. 24. This class will teach about the seventh guiding principle in the CREATION Health lifestyle, Outlook. The class will run from 7 to 8 p.m. at the San Marcos…

Ensemble Series and the 3rd Annual TX State Art Song Symposium present TX State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Troy Peters @ 7:30 p.m. @Evans Auditorium Ensemble Series and the 3rd Annual TX State Art Song Symposium present TX State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Troy Peters @7:30 p.m. @Evans Auditorium Written as a celebration of the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial, Leonard Bernstein’s “Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra” is a rarely performed masterpiece. The concert,…